U.S. weekly upland export sales came in at 354,500 running bales and shipments rose to 354,400 RB. Cash grower sales quickened to 25,916 bales and business sales increased to 4,740 bales on The Seam.
Cotton futures climbed to a new six-month high in late overnight trading and ticked near the high in heavy early dealings Thursday morning after USDA reported another round of strong U.S. weekly export sales.
March hovered up 84 points to 77.28 cents, trading within a 104-point range from 76.36 to 77.40 cents on a volume of 6,252 lots. It opened overnight on the session low and rose to within 60 points of the August high. May traded up 79 points to 77.84 cents on a turnover of 3,405 lots.
Net upland export sales for shipment this season of 328,700 running bales during the week ended last Thursday slipped 28% from the prior week’s marketing year high but rose 8% from the prior four-week average.
Sales went to 18 countries, led by India, Turkey, China, Pakistan and Indonesia. Gross sales were 360,600 RB and cancellations were 31,900 RB. Sales for shipment next season of 89,000 RB, up from 10,400 RB the prior week, were reported for South Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, Mexico and El Salvador.
Upland shipments of 354,500 RB rose 56% from the previous week and 55% from the four-week average. Shipments went to 25 countries, headed by China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey and Pakistan.
Net Pima sales of 6,700 RB were up 4% from the prior week and the four-week average and were primarily for China, Pakistan, India and Honduras. Shipments of the extra-long staple cotton of 6,000 RB fell 56% from the prior week and 50% from the four-week average. The primary destinations were India, Pakistan, Germany, Bangladesh and Thailand.
In outside markets, U.S. dollar index futures traded down 0.250 to 99.360, while Dow Jones futures ticked down 50 points and S&P futures 4.75 points. Crude oil gained 28 cents to $54.16, Brent crude added 27 cents to $57.39 and February gold gained $17 to $1,222.60. March corn was down 0.3%, March soybeans u 0.3%, March Chicago wheat flat and March Kansas City wheat up 0.1%.
Earlier, Asian stock markets were lower, down 1.2% in Japan’s Nikkei 225, 0.6% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and 0.5% in South Korea’s Kospi. The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.2% in afternoon trading. India’s MCX cotton futures were firm and local prices advanced.
In ICE cotton futures Wednesday, March settled at its second highest close of the marketing year, just 10 points shy of the Aug. 8 finish at 76.54 cents. The intraday August high was 78 cents.
The March-May spread traded from 67 to 57 points carry and narrowed five points to settle at 61 points on a volume of 9,667 lots. May-July traded from 61 to 45 points carry and narrowed four points to close at 52 points on 3,232 lots.
The inverted July-December intercrop straddle widened 85 points to a new high settlement of 518 points premium on the old-crop contract after trading from 440 to 529 points on 1,510 lots.
In cash online trading, grower-to-business sales quickened to 25,916 bales from 19,023 bales on The Seam. Prices climbed to an average of 70.92 cents from 69.52 cents, reflecting gains to 17.58 cents from 16.47 cents in premiums over loan repayment rates.
Business-to-business sales increased to 4,740 bales from 3,375 bales on prices averaging 71.59 cents, up slightly from 71.47 cents, and premiums of 17.44 cents, down from 20.69 cents.
The Cotlook A Index of world prices gained 75 points to 84.25 cents, narrowing the premium over the prior-day March futures settlement five points to 9.31 cents.
